In this series we’ll take a fresh look at resources and how they are used. We’ll go beyond natural resources like air and water to look at how efficiency in raw materials can boost the bottom line and help the environment. We’ll also examine the circular economy and design for reuse — with an eye toward honoring those resources we do have.

While changes at home can’t solve the many environmental crises we face today, they can sure help. Through this series, we’ll explore how initiatives like curbside compost pick-up, rebates on compost bins, and efficient appliances can help families reduce their impact without breaking the bank.

Despite decades -- centuries even -- of global efforts, slavery can still be found not just on the high seas, but around the world and throughout various supply chains. Through this series on forced labor, sponsored by C&A Foundation, we’ll explore many different types of bonded and forced labor and highlight industries where this practice is alive and well today.

In this series we examine how companies should respond to national controversy like police violence and the BLM movement to best support employees and how can companies work to improve equality by increasing diversity in their ranks directly.

Compost is often considered a panacea for the United States’ tremendous food waste problem. Indeed, composting is a much better option than putting spoiled food in a garbage can destined for a landfill.

Corporate Responsibility

This category is about corporate social responsibility (CSR), a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model. The goal of CSR is to embrace responsibility for the company’s actions and encourage a positive impact through its activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public sphere.

Promoting the environmental or sustainability improvements of a product or service can be a tricky high-wire act that can give marketing professionals nightmares. One must balance the need for easy-to-understand, consumer-friendly messages with the complex legal and scientific requirements necessary to validate the green marketing claims.

It’s not easy to save face when you’ve come out swinging, very publicly, with everything you’ve got, only to find that you’ve lost the argument because your position was indefensible. One approach would be to “declare victory and go home.” This, apparently, was the approach chosen by the American Family Association when they decided to call off their three-year-old boycott of Home Depot for financially supporting gay and lesbian organizations.

Companies best positioned to compete in the future will be those that are able to decouple growth from unsustainable dependency on vulnerable natural resources. Natural capital accounting enables companies to do just that by identifying opportunities to optimize operations, supply chains and product portfolios in line with resource availability and environmental cost.

A version of this piece was originally published on the CSR Reporting Blog. The Global Reporting Initiative has never met the challenge of developing great and focused sector guidance. With just a small number of sectors for which specific guidance is available, we might be inclined to say that GRI has missed the boat. Even with … Continued